MEPs gave their consent to the EU-Armenia comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement on Wednesday, July 4, paving the way for deeper cooperation in different sectors, the bloc's delegation to Armenia said in a statement.

The negotiations on the new EU-Armenia comprehensive and enhanced partnership agreement (CEPA) were launched in 2015 and concluded in 2017. The agreement was then signed by both sides in November 2017. The final agreement marks a deeper political dialogue between the EU and Armenia, broadening the scope of economic cooperation and providing new opportunities for closer ties on energy, transport, infrastructure, environment, trade, education and other sectors.

MEPs backed the deal by 573 votes to 50, with 45 abstentions.

MEPs said they regret that the Agreement cannot include the removal of tariff barriers, due to Armenia’s membership of the Eurasian Economic Union. However, they stress that it does not prevent the EU from being Armenia’s main trading partner and first donor, thus demonstrating that the EU does not expect its partners to privilege deeper relations with the EU at the expense of their relations with third parties.

MEPs said they applaud the citizens of Armenia on the recent peaceful transition of power and welcome the restraint shown by the law enforcement bodies, though some unjustified arrests of peaceful demonstrators raise concerns. They congratulated Nikol Pashinyan on his election as the new Prime Minister of Armenia and said they look forward to increased cooperation.